You seemed interested enough in other peoples.

But yeah it should be easy enough to politely decline to discuss your beliefs with other people.

I love this post. This is the height of arrogance.

Summary: Discuss topics and contexts that Christians don't know anything about, because they are stupid. Therefore, they will see that they are stupid.

What were you blasted off, and what were the reasons given?

If you are presented with "evidence" and you find that evidence lacking, what are you doing if not drawing a conclusion about the position presented?

I maybe the height of arrogance its hard to humbly deny such an accusation but I don't think you understood my post.

An argument that appeared to be similar to yours although I was making an assumption. Probably better if you explain what you meant by:

I took it to mean that if you cause them to realise that their beliefs were simply 'inherited' (or whatever word suits) that it might cause them to have some doubt?

That's not what he was saying and you introduced the word 'stupid', not newguy.

I think the point was pretty obvious, have another read.

I'm sure he didn't.

OP couldn't wait until those stupid jesus freaks would try to pull him into "their way of thinking." He inched his chair closer to their table, and tilted his head slightly so he could hear better. "Any second, now, I know they're gonna try to convert me to their archaic religion -- I just know it!" he said to himself, while slipping on his Mocha Frapp. "I need to come up with a quick witted comment that will, most importantly, show them how stupid they are, and how much smarter I am -- but will also be somewhat polite, so I can maintain my personal moral high-ground smugness. Hmmmmm ..."

20 mins pass by and OP still hasn't come up with anything witty to say. Still sitting at the coffee shop, empty Mocha Frap in hand, he begins to get anxious. "They should be leaving any minute now, why haven't they tried to convert me to their stupid religion?!?" he mumbles to himself.

10 more mins pass. Finally, the Christians stand up to leave the coffee shop. A rush of relieve passes over OP. One, because he knows those Jesus Freak will have to speak up now, but also because he grown tired of making paper napkin footballs at his table. OP stands up right behind them as they pick up their trash:

Christians: Hope your 4th of July was great!
OP: Jesus isn't real!
Christians: Uhh, okay ... well, have a good night. *quickly walking away*
OP: Yeah, have fun praying to your invisible sky magician!


OP replayed the night over and over and over in his head throughout the rest of the night. "Those Christians are ALWAYS trying to convert us logical, reasoned folks with their backwards world-view. Next time they try it, I'll have a much better response waiting. I wonder what 2+2 can come up with ..."

I know someone who posts here who thinks that mockery and ridicule are lame ways to make points. I actually agree with him on that.

If you ever find yourself wondering how you'd counter any point of view, I guess you'd should just reread your own post.

I think referring to the religious as "jesus freaks" is a lame way to start a genuine discussion ...

I agree with that too.

"Jesus Freaks" is deragotary, but I can't deny that is a new breed of younger Christians whom I find best described with the word "fluffy".

I didn't really mean Jesus freaks to be very derogatory - just more descriptive.

Anyway, it's not really the "very religious" that I was focusing on, they just triggered the thought. It's more the casual comments people might make like "that so many survived the plane crash is a real miracle", or "he was blessed with that ability" or "prayers really work". Just things you hear from time to time. It's almost worse than hardcore religious statements/arguments, because if you hear these comments its almost assumed everyone who hears them also has the same belief system as the one who spoke the words.

So what I was getting at would be a counter casual comment, like, "yeah, either that or he won the gene lottery". Something simple, concise, and non-aggressive.

This thread has got me on the right track though - I like the "skeptic" approach for example. I think I can come up with others.

You realize that your initial presentation is nothing like you're talking about right now, right?

Yes, but I think the solution to one works for the other.

I find this to be quite strange.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_F...youth_movement)

Also, JesusFreaks.com... perhaps just an attempt to steal back a term used by critics and intended to be derogatory in the same way that blacks did it with 'n***er', homosexuals did it with gay/queer/h*mo, white supremacists did it with 'peckerwood', Britney Spears did it with 'white trash'.. oh no, wait, she's still trying the acting crazy tactic.

we're super freak-aaaayyyy

Just in case you didn't grow up Christian, this is probably one of the most popular CCM songs in history:



There was definitely a point (thanks to this song) where people would agree wholeheartedly to being called "Jesus Freak."

You can't counter them with reason and logic since they have somehow blocked the entire part of their brain that is involved in that. It is best to smile and nod like you would do with a ******ed child.

If you are sober then change the subject. If you are drunk then hope that they change the subject. Nothing good ever comes out of these type of discussions with strangers face to face. Stick to boards like this if you want to get an idea how both sides think.

I have to disagree with this. On a board like this it's actually pretty difficult to get a genuinely informed picture of what people believe - 90% of posters are

1) atheists with a chip on their shoulder who like to deliver snide quips about religion but don't really have much knowledge about what the religious actually believe

2) religious folk that would even be called extremist nut jobs by the other followers of their religion, or

3) outright trolls.

I've found that if you really want to have an informed conversation about religion, it's not that hard to set up an appointment with a priest/pastor/religious leader of the religion of your choice, and then you can find out what educated people have to say about various questions. Any priest or pastor worth their salt can answer questions like "which parts of the Bible are literal truth, and which aren't?" or "Why does evil exist?" pretty well. You might not agree with their answers, but you will get a clear picture of what they believe and why.

Of course if you try to engage a random in a coffee shop about such things you can expect the conversation to go full ******. There's a pretty big difference between a guy who got a college degree and masters in his religion and spends 30+ hours a week studying it, and some guy who hasn't even read the texts his religion is based on, spends two hours a month in church, and spends half his time there thinking about how quickly he can get home to a beer and a football game.

(Only real exception to this I've found is Jehovah's Witnesses, even if you meet a random on the street you can usually expect them to know their ****.)


Still, a face to face conversation with someone thoroughly educated in their religion is light years ahead of posts like

Neither 1 nor 2 is remotely true. Especially 2. If anything, this forum is a bad place to learn about what the 'average' religious person believes because the theist posters here are overwhelmingly above average in terms of education and 'liberalism' (both political and theological).